High flux nanofibrous composite microfiltration membrane prepared by melt blending extrusion: Application in liquid filtration.

ABSTRACT High flux PP/EVOH nanofibrous composite microfiltration membrane (P/E-NCMM) based on polypropylene (PP) (575 nm) and polyethylene- co-polyvinyl alcohol (EVOH) nanofibers (248 nm) with low operation pressure for liquid filtration was fabricated by melt blending extrusion. PP nanofibers as the scaffold played a supporting role, and EVOH nanofibers filled in the PP nanofibers network structure narrowed the pore size and improved the wettability. Taking advantages of PP and EVOH nanofibers, the nanofibrous composite membrane created fascinating features for liquid filtration. The experimental results showed that the P/E-NCMM had high average pure water flux at low operating pressure. The P/E-NCMM with 30 wt % PP nanofibers showed high water flux [450.9 L/(m² h)] even at very low feeding pressure (0.05 MPa) with above 95% retention for TiO₂ suspension. The results indicated that the P/E-NCMM prepared by this method had great potential for the application in liquid filtration. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43585. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]